


Escape Another Night

by Whovian101



Series: Escape the Night [2]
Category: Doctor Who, escape the night - Fandom
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-10 10:21:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14735138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whovian101/pseuds/Whovian101
Summary: The Doctor got another invitation from Joey Graceffa, to come to a masquerade ball time locked in the Victorian Era, he has to come to help Joey. When a Sorceress tries to open a portal to Gallifrey to harness the time vortex, it's up to the Doctor and ten other guests in the estate to stop her.This is pretty much a novelization of Joey Graceffa's YouTube Red series, Escape the Night Season 2, except the deaths are in different orders and with the Tenth Doctor as a guest.





	1. Another Invitation

The Doctor stared at the invitation. Not again. He couldn’t do it again, but the TARDIS wouldn’t move. She refused. _He needs my help._ He repeated to himself, _he needs my help, no matter what it costs me._

 

_My friends,_

_I’ve been away for far too long. I want to invite you to a masquerade ball at an estate like no other. I’ll explain everything after you arrive. To attend, you must assume a persona reminiscent of the Victorian Era and be dressed accordingly, or the carriage, which can bring you across time, will remain invisible to your eyes. A package will accompany your invitation with the proper attire, which may contain a useful object. There will be people and creatures unique to the estate that know their place, whom you will interact with. You, however, will have no knowledge of what is to come. You will be a newborn babe in this exciting and sometimes frightening place._

_Joey Graceffa_

 

It had been one year since the Doctor had returned from the murder house in the 1920s. He and Joey had built up quite the relationship, the Doctor visiting him every week, though for him it wasn't always that long, sometimes there would be months in between for him, but he always came back to Joey. Joey had taken returning back to the modern era quite well, but the Doctor didn't have it as easy. After the murder of ten innocent victims, many of which he considered at his hand, he wasn't in what could be called perfect condition.

The Doctor stepped out of the Victorian carriage. He was the first to arrive. He observed the other guests as they entered and began to mingle. There was Alex, the Novelist, Liza, the explorer, Tyler, the thespian, Lauren, the engineer, Jesse, the outlaw, Tana, the saloon girl, Andrea, the mystic, DeStorm, the railroad tycoon, and Gabbie, the Vaudevillian. His Time Lord sense told him he couldn’t mention what happened last time, as much as he wanted to warn them, it had to play out.

“Who are you?” Liza asked the Doctor,

“I’m the Doctor.”

“What’s your name.”

“I prefer the Doctor, but if need be, John Smith will suffice.”

“Okay, Doctor.” Liza laughed, “Are you good friends with Joey?”

“We’re quite close, yes.” He responded, dramatically understating their relationship,

“Cool, cool… It’s a nice place he’s got here.”

“Yeah, it is.” Without warning, an older man stepped down the stairs,

“Welcome to my home.” He said politely, “My name is Dorian. You all look so delicious.” The Doctor narrowed his eyes, something about Dorian wasn’t right,

“Excuse me, where’s Joey?” Liza asked, clearly wanting to get straight to the point,

“He wanted me to greet you on his behalf,” Dorian said, almost too quickly, “as he should be making his entrance shortly. I see you’ve met my daughter Allison.” Allison put her head down, and the Doctor recognised her as the girl who opened the carriages. He gave her a smile, but she didn’t meet his eye. “Why don’t you get our guests some drinks?” Dorian asked her. She obliged, bringing out alcoholic beverages. “I propose a toast.” There was a murmur of confusion, “To Joey Graceffa!”

“To Joey!” The guests repeated,  

“The man of the hour.” Dorian finished,

“Cheers.” and everyone but the Doctor downed their glasses.

“Wherever he may be.” Liza joked. The Doctor we getting seriously concerned about Joey now, he was nowhere to be found,

“Now, enjoy the decor, ‘cause I shall return for you when all is ready.” And with that, Dorian made his grand exit. Complements for the beautiful house were exchanged, and the Doctor went exploring for clues.

“What are you doing?” Liza asked, as the Doctor examined a painting of Dorian,

“Something’s not right, I’m looking for clues.”

“Well, I’m an explorer. I’ll help.” The Doctor smiled, and he and Liza continued to look around, “What are you?” The Doctor turned to see Liza, talking to Andrea, the Mystic. Clearly Liza was easily distractible.

“I’m a mystic.” Andrea said,

“What? No way, what does that mean?”

“I do a lot of potions, I talk to spirits–there’s a lot of spirits here tonight actually–”

“Wait, wait, what do you do?” Alex asked Liza,

“I explore.”

“Explore what?” Alex asked,

“I explore anything and everything.” Liza gave a mischievous grin,

“I would say,” Andrea said, “just avoid–avoid, uh, dark–dark doorways. I’m seeing bad…”

“But I love dark doorways.” The Doctor grinned, he could tell he and Liza would get along just perfectly.

The Doctor continued to search Dorian’s picture, when he saw a piece of something hanging off of it. He grabbed it, and peeled it down. It was half of a map. “Hey! I found a part of a map!” The Doctor announced, and suddenly, everyone started looking around for clues, thinking this was some sort of fun scavenger hunt. They couldn’t have been more wrong.

“We found a thing! It’s a puzzle!” Gabbie cried out, and the Doctor came to her side, grabbing the puzzle, and trying to crack it with any four letter combination that could be a word.

“Look at this book!” Liza called, as she, Lauren, and Tana came running in, the bookmark read ‘evil’. The Doctor put evil into the combination, and the puzzle popped open revealing a small, metal key.

“We need to find something that’s locked.” Tyler said reasonably, and everyone began looking around.  

Just then, Alex returned to the room with Allison and said, “Let’s just leave. Something’s not right.” The Doctor jumped to his feet, wondering what had tipped him off, when Allison said,

“Everyone, uh, if you could just follow me.”

“Come on.” DeStorm said, and they all followed Allison out the door, outside, and to the back of a glass door.

“Listen!” Allison said once they got to the door, “My father is lying to you, okay? He’s not the owner of this estate. You need to stay close to me tonight, okay?” There was a nod of agreement. The glass doors then opened, and a tall man ordered,

“Bring in the guests.” They walked into a room of dancing figures, the Doctor watched as each slowed, sniffing the air, whispering. One whispered,

“There is a Time Lord in our midst.” They could smell him. One girl grinned, and Dorian walked up to the Doctor, but did not address him and said,

“Ladies and gentlemen, dinner has arrived.” Then, with a fist of rock, the man sent a blow onto the Doctor’s left shoulder. The Doctor doubled over in pain, his mind rushing, _how did they know? That nerve cluster is a well guarded secret of the Time Lords. How did he know?_

There was a screaming as the Doctor fell to the floor, but for the Doctor, everything went silent. He couldn’t hear he couldn’t see he couldn’t think. Panic rose within him.

“But first, the appetizer!” Dorian laughed cruelly, pulling back a curtain as two servants carried the Doctor towards the now uncovered panel. Weak and defenceless, the Doctor was chained on and hooked to a tube. There was one other panel. On the other one, Joey lay, barely conscious.

“Joey?” The Doctor called out,

Dorian turned on the faucet the Doctor’s tube was now attached to, and blood, darker red with a slight tinge of orange, came flowing into the skull-shaped glass that Dorian held. The Doctor felt his life force begin to drain.

“Tonight we feast on the last of the Time Lords!” There was a cheering from the vampires, and the Doctor’s eyes threatened to close,

“Not so high and mighty now, are you?” Dorian laughed, staring into the Doctor’s fading eyes,

“I’m giving you one chance, Dorian.” The Doctor said, even in his weakened state sounding powerful, “Let us go. You know who I am, and you know what I can do to you.” Dorian just laughed,

“You’re in no position to threaten me.”

“I’m done waiting!” One of the vampires laughed, breaking Dorian’s conversation with the Doctor,

“Back off!” Allison said suddenly, sending out a heavy blast of red-orange light from within her palm, and the vampires scattered.

“Get them out!” Was all the Doctor could manage, he felt like he was drowning, as the faucet had been left on, and blood was spilling onto the floor. The other guests ran, and Dorian cried out,

“Allison! Allison!” Then hissed to the nearest guard, “Lock the door. Morgan, secure the courtyard exits. The rest of you follow me!” All the vampires exited, and the Doctor heard his name, first faintly, but then it grew louder,

“Doctor, Doctor? Doctor!” The Doctor let out a low groan. After a few minutes of struggling, there was the clang of wood hitting the floor, and Joey’s chains must have fallen off. Joey ran to the wounded Time Lord’s side. Somehow, Joey was holding the key to the Doctor’s chains, the Doctor wasn’t exactly acute to his surroundings, so he wasn’t quite sure how, but he was in no way complaining. The last shackle came off, and Joey lowered the Doctor to the ground, removing the tube safely and efficiently. With one last breath of relief, the Doctor fell unconscious.

A few minutes passed (He wasn’t exactly sure how long, as removing almost all of one's blood tends to shuffle up their time sense) before the Doctor woke up. He felt his hearts pumping blood and restoring the loss, so he tried to jump up, crying out happily,

“Joey!” glad Joey was safe, then promptly got light headed and lost his balance. Fortunately, Joey was there to catch him, and he was lowered to the floor again. “You alright?” Joey asked, voice sounding full of concern.

“Yeah, will be, just need my hearts to restore the blood.” Joey looked around at the blood-soaked ballroom before them, “might take a while.” The Doctor admitted,

“How did you get here?” Joey finally asked,

“I got an invitation.”  
“But, I didn’t invite anyone here…”

“I know, there’s another influence here, and whoever they are, they have some extensive knowledge on who I am, which is a problem.”

“I saw Dorian hit your arm, what happened?”

“There’s a sensitive nerve cluster there. It’s a well guarded Time Lord secret. I have no clue how they know.” Joey nodded,

“Any idea who they are?”

“Well, their vampiric, that much is for sure, but there’s about a thousand species of vampiric humanoids, could be any one of them.” Joey nodded, “How long have you been here?” the Doctor asked,

“I don’t know, I don’t remember much.” The Doctor nodded, then requested for Joey to come close to him.

“I have an idea. I’m going to go into your mind and look for these missing memories.”

“Okay.” Joey said, they had linked minds before, so this was nothing new. The Doctor entered. Finally, the Doctor found what he’d been looking for. A blank space. Probing around, he found it. The memories weren’t well concealed, so, as if pulling a lever, he flicked the memories back on. The deed. That was the link. The deed to the house Joey had grabbed had made him the perfect host for the evil that rested within the house. And a Sorceress, a Sorceress was controlling all of this, made him write the letters, she wanted these lives, but what for? There was no answer, and the Doctor withdrew from Joey’s mind. When he came out, he could tell that Joey remembered too. The Doctor tried to stand up again, but Joey sat him back down, giving him a stern look, and the Doctor watched Joey look around. Suddenly, the Doctor cried out, “Tau!”

“What?”

“Tau is the Greek symbol for life.” He pointed on a pillar, and Joey pulled it off. They both knew there had to be a reason.

“There’s a note!” Joey exclaimed gleefully, and began to read, “The machine holds the secret to slaying the king of the vampires.”

“Let me see the lock.” The Doctor said, and Joey showed him the lock, then, the Doctor looked down on his suit. There was a tool he had noticed earlier, but thought nothing of, that would exactly fit the hole. Sliding it in, there was a click of success. Inside, there was a book, Joey lowered the Doctor back to the ground, and they turned to the page with the bookmark, and began to read, “The wooden stake of Van Helsing, the great hunter of vampires, is in-bueded with a dark magic from the blood of 1,000 dead vampires. To prevent it being used to kill him, Dorian kept it here in the ballroom. Three ankhs–that’s the symbols–must be placed in the machine and turned upside down to reveal its location.”

“Okay, there’s two more ankhs then.” Joey said, who then placed the first ankh onto the frame and turned it upside down. “I found another one!” Joey called out, running back to the Doctor, and repeated the process, then, a light caught the Doctor’s eye, and he looked. There, behind the light, was the last ankh. “Look,” He pointed to it, trying to stand up, legs unstable, feeling like lead. Joey sat him back down, giving him a disapproving look, and picked it up, placing it into the machine and flipping it in the frame. Suddenly, a carpet from the ceiling unraveled, leaving a book and a large stake in the air. The Doctor read the words on the stake,

“The only way past your guard is to impale him in the heart.” The Doctor dropped the stake with his already shaking hands, “I can’t kill another. I can’t do it.”

“Those other ones weren’t your fault.” Joey assured him, “You didn’t kill them, the house did.”

“No, not just them. I’ve killed so many. They were innocent. It wasn’t their fault, but I had no choice. I killed them all.” The Doctor’s hands were shaking violently now, and Joey wrapped his arms around the Doctor,

“I’ll do it.”

“No, you can’t. I can’t ruin you too. I refuse. I won’t let you.” Joey continued to hold the shaking Doctor for a while longer. He noticed how skinny he seemed. The Doctor had been skinny before, but now he seemed worse. It seemed dangerous now.

“How long since you last saw me?” Joey asked.

“‘Bout a month and a half, why?”

“Have you eaten since then?”

“What?”

“You don’t look good.”

“Well, I have just been drained of most of my blood.”

“No, you know what I mean.”

“No, I haven’t.” Joey nodded,

“What about sleep?”

“No.”

“When we get out of here, you’re coming home with me and we’re going to get something to eat, then taking a nap, got it?” The Doctor nodded reluctantly, and Joey got up, stake in hand. He stepped outside, helping to suspend the Doctor, and the moment Joey opened the glass door and called the vampire’s attention, the Doctor grabbed the stake from his hands, and with a burst of adrenaline, pushed it into the vampire’s chest.


	2. The Masquerade

Joey stared at the Doctor, who fell to his knees, “There must have been another way.” He whispered,

“There wasn’t.” Joey grabbed his hand and helped the Doctor get up, “Let’s go find everyone else.” The Doctor nodded, the two of them walked up the stairs, the Doctor leaning heavily on Joey’s shoulder. Lauren and Andrea were tied to pillars.

“Hi.” Joey said,

“Oh my gosh, what happened?” Lauren asked as Joey untied her, there was no response, so finally Andrea asked,

“What do we do now?” as Joey untied her ropes,

“We find the others.” The Doctor said, and turned around, hearing faint voices. Joey grabbed his waist and they made their way down.

“Guys!” Joey called as they saw the rest of the group. The Doctor immediately noticed that everyone was keeping their distance from him, when Joey inquired about it, DeStorm was the first to talk,

“He’s not normal, he’s not like us. He’s like, a Time Wizard or something.”

“Time Lord.” The Doctor corrected,

“Look, we’ve been through a lot. I trust the Doctor with my life, I have before and I will again, and look at him, he doesn’t look exactly like he’s in any shape to fight.” The Doctor could already tell they were now noticing the large bags under his eyes, his now extremely pale face, and thin figure. There was a nod, but everyone still seemed to keep their distance.

They entered the lounge, and Andria began to tell them a story about the evil Sorceress who owned the estate. She explained a crown that was rumored to be able to take the Sorceress down, that was found in the journal that the Doctor and Joey had obtained, but it was locked.

“Wait, I’ve got a key on my watch.” DeStorm announced, the Doctor grabbed it out of his hands and slid it into the lock and unlocked with a satisfying click. DeStorm began to read; “If you seek the Crown of Oblivion, be prepared for the death to follow. The Sorceress was once a peasant girl who made a deal with a cursed god for power. She murdered the keeper of this estate and trapped it in time so she might live forever. She has been gathering an army in preparation for a spell that will open a portal to the mythical planet of Gallifrey and make her empress over all time.” The Doctor made a gasping sound, and everyone looked at him,

“That’s your planet.” Joey said the Doctor. He had gotten the full story of Gallifrey, the Time Lords, and the Time War a while ago. The Doctor nodded,

“But it’s gone. There’s no way back. To break the Time Lock would unleash the Time War on the galaxy.” There was a silence, then DeStorm continued,

“The spell requires the evil Joey carried with him–”

“Joey?” Everyone looked at Joey,

“Something’s been possessing him.” The Doctor admitted, “He’s fine for now, but it is unknown whether the link is still there or not.” There was a silence, so DeStorm continued, “and nine innocent lives from the same modern day.” Joey looked at the Doctor,

“But you’re not from our time. Why are you here?” The Doctor gave a shrug,

“There are eight gems of power kept by the lieutenants. If they can be gathered and placed in the map, the Crown will be revealed. The wearer of the Crown will have the power to stop her spell and return home. However, obtaining a gem will require unraveling dark mysteries and voting on two who must undertake a terrible challenge that will end in death. Time is short– by morning her spell will be complete, and there will be no future to return to.”

“Someone has to die for this.” Lauren said,

“Someone has to die for a gem.” Joey confirmed, though both he and the Doctor already knew this.

“My father wears a gem around his necklace.” Allison said, “I’ve seen it before. Now, if we find the sun stone, we have everything we need to destroy him.”

“I have the map.” Tyler announced, and they all looked at the map.

“We need to stand in this order.” Jesse said, indicating to the stick figures on the map, and the eleven of them were off. They stood in their spots, and the Doctor found a rope and they tied it together. The moment they were all together, a chest opened to reveal the sun stone.

“We have to get to the king now.” Alex said, then, Allison spoke up,

“Every full moon, my father gives a vampire the opportunity to dine with him alone. If the vampire answers the riddle that he asks correctly, they get his honor. But, if they answer incorrectly, the vampire is drained of all their blood. Being his daughter, I have the privilege of knowing the answer. Who would like to go in?”

“I can’t, they’ll smell me.” The Doctor said,

“I’ll do it.” Andrea said, “I’m good at riddles.” There was a nod,

“So, the answer to the riddle will be ‘history; we have only one problem; we have to get the human scent off you.” Allison took Andrea outside to do whatever ritual, and the rest of the guests were left in silence. They set up the ritual to kill Damien, the Doctor’s heart burning all the way. This was wrong. This was not what he stood for. He remembered telling his daughter, Jenny, ‘There’s always another way.’ Yet here he was, without another option. The thought crossed his mind that she’d still be alive if she had shot him. He closed his eyes briefly, he didn’t want to think about that.

When Dorian and Andrea walked out together, Andrea jumped out of the way as Dorian stepped across the salt line. The sunstone shone onto him, and the Doctor sprinted out, once more stabbing another soul. He grabbed the necklace, and closed the eyes of the corps, paying it respect. He may not have been a good man, but he was a man. In a flash, Joey was by his side, grabbing his hand, “Look out!” Tana’s voice came from above as a vampire came hurrying down the stairs at the murderer.

“Time Lord!” She screamed, then ordered the other vampires, “Kill them all!”

“No mother!” Allison came running out, “He was killed in the proper way, a life for a life.”

“Very well then, a life for a life, choose your friend wisely.”

“We’ll vote on two to run the race for the golden goblet.” Allison said, “The winner will survive.”

The moment they returned, just as expected, they began pointing fingers. The Doctor stood up, “I’ll do it.”

“No way!” Joey said, “You’re in no fit shape.”

“I killed him.”

“It wasn’t your fault.” The Doctor closed his eyes,

“I don’t care.”

With the Doctor as a volunteer, they cast their votes for his competitor. There was a pause, before Allison pulled out the card with the name on it,

“DeStorm.”

“Okay.” DeStorm stood up,

“If you two would follow me, everyone else can stay.” Allison said. They entered room, and Allison’s mother sat on a throne.

“Each one of you must unravel three clues to find the location of the golden goblet. Take your starting place. And don’t take too long, or I’ll kill you both.” There was a pause, then, “begin.”

The Doctor read his clue quietly, _In the center of three celestial points, silver waits._ The Doctor immediately found the three stars on the floor, door, and on the jacket of one of the vampires. He pulled the tablecloth off the table in the center to reveal a hole full of snakes. _“Excuse me, do you mind moving out of the way?”_ The Doctor asked the snakes politely. They didn’t verbally respond, but slid out of the way, and the Doctor picked up the letter with a piece of silver on the top, thanking the snakes as he left. He read the letter, _I died in battle and need to pay the ferryman to carry my to my eternal rest. Can you please find my coffin, which is marked by the sign of my faith.”_  The Doctor looked around for a cross, and found one next to a clock-like structure. He pulled on the handle, and rolled out a full-sized coffin. On the top, were three triangles with equations. _Brilliant_ , he thought to himself, if there was anything he was good at, it was math, and maybe transdimensional physics, but mostly math. The numbers easily sped through his head, and to his left, he saw DeStorm finally getting to his letter, then trying to follow the Doctor’s lead. The Doctor knelt down to the combination lock, and slid in the numbers 7-1-4. When he opened the coffin, he looked at the dead corpse that was inside it. Without a word, the Doctor slid the silver pieces into the holes of the skeleton’s eyes, and a vampire rewarded him with his third clue. _I take my sword and slay the dragon who took my life._ The Doctor unsheathed a sword, and approached the large stone dragon. He poked the button in the middle, and a drawer opened up. _The golden goblet is beside the queen’s throne. Present this to her._ The Doctor approached the queen, and knelt before her, holding the note out to her with his trembling hands. Beside her, she opened a chest and handed the Doctor the golden goblet. The Doctor bowed, then turned to DeStorm. “I’m sorry.” He said, “I’m so, so sorry.” The queen sent her vampires on DeStorm, who was screaming in protest.

The Doctor re-entered the room with the other guests, holding the goblet, but head low in mourning. Joey sat him down and wrapped himself around him. Tana was the first to notice the golden goblet that the Doctor had left on the table. “What’s that?” She asked with interest,

“Take it.” The Doctor said, and Tana did gladly. The Doctor curled up onto Joey, and Alex asked, “What are we going to do next?”

“Seven more of these in exchange for seven lives.” Liza said, “It’s the only way.”

“There’s something I need to show you.” Allison said, striding across the room, removing a piece of the wall to reveal a large iron plate full of gem-shaped holes. “This is the gem map.” She explained, “In each of these places belongs a gem. Each token represents one of the lieutenants that hold one of the gems.”

“Put it in.” The Doctor encouraged Joey who was holding the first gem. Joey got up, and carefully slid the gem into place.


	3. Tangled Web

There was a bang from behind them, and everyone whirled around to see a burst of white smoke. Emerging from that smoke, was who only could be the sorcerous. She wielded a large staff that wreaked of psychic energy. “Did you really think you could escape my grasp?” She cackled, “You’re just the pre-show for tonight’s true extravaganza of blood and suffering. None of you are leaving this place alive!” The Doctor stepped up to her,

“What do you want?”

“Oh, the Time Lord, you’ll make such a fun game.”

“If I don’t like this, then it will stop.”

“You and what army?”

“I don't need one. I’ve taken down the greatest empires to ever exist singlehanded. Now, let us go or I’ll take you down too.”

“I don’t think so.” There was a clang, and a door opened, revealing a humanoid spider. There was smoke and screaming, and the spider grabbed Alex and was gone.

“What was that?” Tyler asked,

“Species?” Joey looked at the Doctor,

“Looks like a Spescolioid.”

“What’s that?” Joey asked,

“Cousin of the Racnoss, they’re humanoid spiders who pray on larger mammals, namely Sheirfoosas and Crionstolin, but have been known to attack other humanoids when required.”

“What is this box?” Andrea asked, holding a locked box,

“Break the seal and pour.” Liza read, “Break the seal and pour what?”

“Look at this!” Tana cried, she was holding the goblet, and on the bottom she had managed to open it. Inside, there was a small bottle and a note. The Doctor grabbed the bottle, sat down on the couch, and read;

“Jorogumo liked to liquor up her boy toys with four shots before taking them to bed for the final time.”

“Okay, so we need to find three more bottles.” There was a nod, and they began to look,

“The explorer found the second bottle already!” Liza announced, handing the bottle to the Doctor,

“Is that?” The Doctor heard Joey say, then “I found it! I found it!”

They found the four tiny bottles, then Joey found a tray of liquor. The Doctor began to read; “Drink up, but choose wisely, or your first one will be your last.” There was a silence, as everyone realized what had to be done. “I’ll do it.” Joey gave him a helpless look,

“Don’t.”

“I have a resistance to most poisons. I have less of a chance of dying.” Joey gave a frustrated nod, “You’d better be right.”

“Some of them match the bottles.” Lauren pointed out, and the Doctor looked, seeing that she was right.

They matched the shots, the Doctor grimacing, hating alcohol. “She’ll take you away though.” Joey said, grabbing the Doctor’s perpetually trembling hands, “‘cause she likes to liquor up her boys with four shots.”

“I’ll go save Alex.” The Doctor said, false confidence in his voice,

“You can’t do this. You’ll die.”

“I can take care of myself.” The Doctor said, and with that, took his first shot.

The Doctor drank the four shots, and they returned to the box, the four small shot glasses sliding right into place, and pouring the bottles into the holes in the box. With that all to familiar click, the box opened. Inside was a jewel that matched the symbol of the door Alex had been pulled through. The Doctor placed it on the door, and the door opened. Alex was lying on the table, covered in Spescolioid silk. The Doctor hurried over to him and began to pull the silk off him. He gasped for breath as the Doctor pulled it off his face, and struggled, ripping off the rest of the silk. “Are you alright?” The Doctor asked, but Alex ran into Lauren’s arms.

“There’s a key on you.” Lauren said to Alex, and the Doctor pulled it off. It read, _desk._

“Hey, where’s Jesse and Tyler?” Gabbie asked, the Doctor looked around,

“Either they’ve wandered off, or they were taken. I’m guessing the ladder.” There was a click, and the desk drawer popped open. Andrea began to read;

“My brotherhood of thieves have been lured here by maidens I curse meeting. I don’t know the fate of my men, but I hope their deaths were quick. They promised us a gem whose value defied all others, but Jorogumo keeps it at the center of her precious web. I have hidden our plan to steal the gem in a red book.” They began to look around for a red book, but Joey found a box. Opening it, he found a red book inside.

“Brilliant, Joey!” The Doctor said, opening the book. Inside was a stencil. It didn’t go to any sentences in the book, so the eight of them went outside. There, they found two figures, wrapped up in silk and suspended in the air. The figures were completely drained of blood. They entered another room inside, when Liza announced,

“I found another note!” and began to read; “These two are drained of their fluids, and I am once again hungry. I always laugh at how brittle and easily broken a human is without their blood.” The Doctor placed the stencil up against the note, nothing.

“I’m gonna do it.” The whole room turned to Alex, “I’m ripping it.” He was holding one of the corps’. There was a consensus that this was what they were supposed to do. The Doctor stepped back, Joey pulling him inside,

“You okay?” He asked the Doctor,

“That used to be a person.” After a lot of screaming and looking through bodies, Tana carried the clue back in and began to read;

“The samurai warrior drove his katana through the neck of the beast, and made the world sink underneath it.” The Doctor placed the stencil on top and read;

“Set on the sun.”

“There’s a sun right here!” Andrea exclaimed, pointing to a carving of the sun into the wood. The Doctor placed the clue on the sun, and there was a bang from inside. They all rushed inside to find a box had opened. Inside it, was a blacklight thats side read; _This light reveals invisible things search the walls._ The Doctor walked over to the wall and began to walk alongside it, looking for a clue. Once he shone the light on the chalkboard, words lit up.

“Jorogumo kills all.” The Doctor read,

“Well, that’s not great.” Tana said,

“There are four symbols on the bottom.” The Doctor said, “We need to find the symbols.” A door behind them creaked open, and Alex was the first one through it.

“There’s a box!” He announced. The Doctor used the light on the box, finding four other symbols, and placed them into the combination lock. It clicked open, and inside was an origami crane and two fake gems. Lauren unfolded the crane, and began to read the note;

“They’re almost perfect fakes. I made two in case one of my men perished. Our plan was to swap them out when Jorogumo was unaware, but we never made it that far into her web.”

“So, we need to swap those out with the real ones.” Joey said,

“Wait, so we have to go to her web?” Andrea asked,

“We need to go find the web and get our friends back.” The Doctor said, “Allons-y!”

When they returned to the front door, they found it was opened. Then, it slammed shut. The Doctor ran for the door, pulling it open. In the yard, they could see Jesse and Tyler being led by two very beautiful young ladies. Suddenly, Jorogumo dropped from the sky on her web,

“They’re mine now!” She announced, “Men are meals to be taken at will, and these two will taste nice. However, I like to watch my prey struggle. I will exchange these two males for one female life. Select two women by vote who will try to escape my web. Go!” They retreated inside, and they began the voting process. The Doctor, as always, stepped out for this part. Allison went to announce the names. She picked up the first card,

“Gabbie.” Gabbie gasped, then, there was a pause and Allison announced, “Tana.”

“Gabbie, Tana, it’s time to go.” Allison said, and Gabbie and Tana grabbed the gems and followed Allison. They were left in silence,

“What do you think of Allison?” Joey asked, looking around at the Doctor, Alex, Lauren, Andrea, and Liza.

“She’s proved herself. Killed a vampire.” Liza said, Alex, Andrea, and Lauren nodding.

“After Arthur, I’m not so sure.” The Doctor admitted to Joey, who nodded,

“Me neither.”

“We should give her the benefit of the doubt.” The Doctor decided, Joey nodded, clearly not convinced.

After a few more minutes, the door banged open, and Gabbie, Tana, and Tyler walked in. “What happened?” The Doctor asked,

“Gabbie and I had to compete to save one of the guys.” Tana said, the Doctor gave a solemn nod, understanding, but the other guests were confused, “The spiders didn’t want us girls. They–they only wanted the guy. It was a trick, they were tricking us.”

“Do you have the gem?” Joey asked, and Gabbie pulled it out. The Doctor grabbed it, placing it into its place on the iron plate.

“Wait, there’s a note.” Lauren pointed out. Andrea grabbed it and began to read;

“Two dead and more to go. I wonder which horrid face will be next. I would start praying. After midnight, things change. The Sorceress.” Joey turned to the Doctor,

“What time is it now?”

“It’s only 8:06pm.” Suddenly, there was a deep laugh, coming from seemingly everywhere and nowhere. The Doctor looked up at the painting of her, the Sorceress.


	4. A Nation Divided

“Where did that laugh come from?” Tyler asked nervously,

“It must have been the Sorceress, it’s an intimidation method.” The Doctor said, “if you make people think you’re everywhere at once, it creates fear.”

“I found this at the doorstep at the beginning of the night.” Allison said, carrying a scroll. Joey opened it,

“It looks like a propaganda flyer.” Joey said, showing the Doctor, the Doctor read the  flyer out loud,

“To arms. Your country needs you. Open the key to freedom. Helm the ship of fury. The Dark Army has taken our land. Obedience required.” The Doctor immediately noticed that some of the words were highlighted in red, so read those words;

“Key to helm of obedience behind a terrifying face.” Liza immediately points to a painting of a face, half of which was being melted off. Alex pulled it off, and it revealed a small key with the words _green room_ on it.

“There’s a room over there that’s green.” Lauren said, and they entered the room. Inside was a box with a lock, so Lauren pushed the key in and turned. Inside, was a large horned helm labeled, _The Helm of Obedience. Its wearer must surrender their will to the voice of the Dark Army if they wish to proceed._ This time, the Doctor stepped back, Tyler read the note aloud, and they looked around for a volunteer.

“I’ll do it.” Joey said, the Doctor then grabbed his arm, “Don’t worry, I got this.” He smiled, placing the helm on his head. Suddenly, Joey screamed in surprise, and began to repeat what the voice said, clearly still having his own voice, just hearing one no one else did.

“Hello, Joey. You must follow my instructions without fail or your life will be forfeit. Do you understand? Yes, I understand.” There was a pause, and the Doctor saw fear flash through Joey’s eyes and he said, “It says to follow me.” They followed Joey, to the bottom of the stairs, when he said, “Stay here.” And walked up the stairs.

“Be careful.” The Doctor called after him. Then, Joey’s voice rang out again,

“Oh my god.” Joey said,

“What is it?” The Doctor called, and Joey walked out to the balcony above them holding a gun. He walked down the stairs to the Doctor waiting for him. The Doctor pulled his arms protectively around the rest of the guests, making sure he was in the direct line of fire. Joey pointed the gun,

“Joey, Joey. Please don’t do this.” The Doctor was saying, “If even a piece of you is in there listening, please don’t do this.” Joey then walked out to the porch, and the gun was fired. The Doctor ran out to him, he was picking up a bugle from a dead man. Joey walked back to the foyer, the Doctor in toe, and began walking to the door in front of the backyard, placing the gun on the floor.

“Can you help me?” Joey asked, clearly having been instructed to remove the helmet, the Doctor was by his side, flicking off the helmet straps. Joey let out a sigh of relief when he removed the helmet. “He said the next thing to do was to blow this.” Joey lifted the bugle to his mouth and blowed. Suddenly, there was screaming and cannons firing. Just outside, two armies approached, on clearly being the Dark Army, and the other some kind of confederates.

“I don’t care if you’re the last people on the goddamn earth, we ain’t gonna stop fighting.” The confederate general said,

“This is our land!” The Dark Army general said,

“Should we hide?” Tana asked, and suddenly, the Dark Army general turned their way, pointing a gun at them, so the Doctor opened the door, and walked out.

“He has a gem.” Alex pointed out, and sure enough, the confederate general had a gem on his jacket.

“Oh, you want this.” He said, “You’re gonna have to fight. You’re gonna have to get dirty.” The Doctor nodded, “Now, see, the team that loses this here skirmish, one of them’s gonna have to die. I don’t see no other way.” The Doctor nodded, knowing it was the only way to the gem. “Which side are y’all fighting on?” He asked,

“What do you mean, side?” Joey asked,

“The Confederates are a weak lot.” The Dark Army general said, “You join me, and we will crush them beneath our heals.”

“The Dark Army will soon be returning to its forgotten myth it once crawled out of.” The Confederate general said, “Stick with me and you’ll live.”

“That’s the only way to get the gem.” Liza said,

“Then pick two captains.” the Dark Army general said, “One for the Dark Army and one for the Confederate filth.”

“I’ll be a captain for the Confederate Army.” The Doctor said, as he once was an army general,

“I’ll be with captain for the Dark Army.” Gabbie said,

“Joey.” The Doctor called first.

“Tana.” Gabbie said,

“Liza.” The Doctor picked,

“Gabbie.”

“Alex.”

“Andrea.”

“Lauren.”

“Tyler.” The Doctor turned to his team of Lauren, Alex, Liza, and Joey. He nodded, and they headed downstairs to begin the battle.

“You gonna be alright?” Joey asked the Doctor, who nodded.

“This side is for the Dark Army.” The Confederate general gestured to the Dark Army’s side, “And this side is for the Confederate Army.” He gestured towards the Doctor’s side. “The patio is no man’s land and a medical station. First team to find the location of the flag is the victor. You’re allowed one person on each team to stand behind their own territory to stand guard.” The Doctor nodded formulating a plan in his head, when the Dark Army general stepped up,

“When in enemy territory, your arm banner can be torn off and an enemy guest must escort you to the medical station where you must sit for five minutes and cannot leave until your time is up. Marching orders.” The Doctor was given the orders,

“Confederate soldiers, your mission is to find five golden pegs hidden in Dark Army territory and then insert them into your warlock’s chest where you will gain the final item needed to recover the enemy’s flag.” The Doctor turned to his team, “Joey, you look for the pegs in the trees, Liza, you’re on the garden and balcony, Lauren, I want you by the side of the house, Alex, I want you and I to stay on our side and try to capture as many Dark Army soldiers as possible. They nodded, none of them arguing with the Doctor’s plan. A gunshot rang out, and the armies were off. After a minute, Joey came running back with the first golden peg just as the Doctor escorted Gabbie to the medical station. Two more minutes later, Joey returned with another one. Suddenly, Liza came back with two,

“I found two!” She screamed,

“One more.” the Doctor said, grabbing the band off of Tyler. Out of the corner of his eye, the Doctor saw a peg inside a light. Abandoning his station, he ran into the Dark Army’s territory, grabbed the peg and sprinted to the box, and placed the last one in. The Doctor grabbed the clue out of the now open box and read to his team who now surrounded him, “The cannon on the patio has been authorized for your use, soldier. Pour in the powder and let her rip to reveal the enemy flag.” The Doctor grabbed the powder from the box, and they all ran to the cannon, the Doctor shouting for Alex and Joey to stay behind. The Doctor poured in the powder, and pulled the rope. There was an explosion by the fountain, so the Doctor went running back down, and grabbed the flag out of the water.

“We won, can we have the gem?” Joey asked as they approached the Confederate Army general,

“Now, I said, one of you losers is gonna have to die if you still want this. Well, that ain’t changed. You have to vote.” They returned inside and voted. Allison called out the names,

“Gabbie.” Gabbie gasped,

“Again?” She said,

“And Tyler.” The two of them stepped outside, and there was silence inside the house once more. There was a gunshot outside, then silence.

Ten minutes later, there was the blast of psychic energy. Tyler returned with the gem in hand, soaking wet.

“What happened?” Andrea asked,

“The guy threw the gem into the pool that had hundreds of gems on the bottom. I found the real one first.” There was a nod and the Doctor pulled back out the iron plate. Tyler placed the gem in.

“Five left.” Joey said,

“Wait, there’s something else.” Tyler said, grabbing something in a satchel that he now had on, and pulled it out. Joey was the first to speak,

“Chocolate?”


	5. The Gingerbread Woman

Lauren grabbed the chocolate bar and began to read the back, “A delicious, delectable chocolate bar smells like pure joy.” She opened it up, and with the chocolate, was a golden ticket. She read; “Once the children have spoken, devour me, and two paths will appear.”

“There are kids in this house?” Liza said, astonished,

“How many people do you think are being held here?” Andrea asked. There was a shrug, and they began to look for clues. The Doctor opened the door,

“Here we go.” He said, and the other guests hurried over to him. Inside was a painting of two children. Underneath, was an empty drawer. The Doctor then sniffed the air, “It smells like chocolate.” He observed. Suddenly, everyone was on their feet, looking for the source of this chocolate. Above them, the Doctor saw something glint in the light. Grabbing it, he announced, “I found a key.”

“Wait, there’s a chest back here!” Joey cried out, and the Doctor ran over, sliding the key into the lock. It opened, and inside of it were candy gumdrops and a small note that said, _All children love gumdrops._

“Give some of these gumdrops to the children!” Tyler said, running to the open drawer with a handful of gumdrops. Once he closed the door, the voice of children rang out,

“Someone, please help us, please! We’ve been locked in the gingerbread woman’s oven, and she’s going to cook us alive! There’s a spell on the door, and only children are allowed to enter the baking room. Our friend, Parson is still lost the woods, he could help us. The baker is looking for the gingerbread woman’s lost recipe for the meat pie, you need to find it. Hurry! She’ll be back in an hour to start the oven! Please, help us!”

“Hansel and Gretel.” The Doctor said, “Old Earth fairy tale that I never understood. On most planets they have stories about heroes and warriors, here you have stories about cannibalistic pastry chefs.”

“Alright, one group will go to meat pies, the other will go find the boy.” Joey said, the Doctor nodded,

“We need to eat the chocolate.” Liza remembered, placing half the stick in her mouth.

Once all the chocolate was eaten, a door opened revealing two candy trails. The Doctor, Joey, Liza, and Tyler took the path to the child, and Tana, Andrea, Lauren, and Alex headed to the recipe. When the Doctor, Joey, Liza, and Tyler entered their room, they found a gingerbread house in need of assembly. The Doctor read the note on top of the blueprints, “I am building an elaborate house made of gingerbread and candy. Once complete, open its door to find a treat. The Doctor began to assemble it quickly, making sure it was sturdy.

“Were you ever an architect?” Joey asked him,

“Sometime in the late 1980s think.” Joey just shrugged and helped hold it sturdy as the Doctor applied the frosting to hold it together.

Once they finished, the Doctor opened the door of the house, and from behind them, a purple light shone from behind him, and inside a box was a key.

“There’s another candy trail over here!” Liza called, and they began down the trail. They were lead outside to a chest. The Doctor opened it to find rock candy, he began to read;

“Nine pieces of candy must be placed on the Golden Stones to lure the lost child from the woods. Once all of them are placed, a child will appear to open the gingerbread room.” They began placing the candy on the golden stones on a path, and suddenly, a boy came running out of the forest.

“Is that candy?” He said, picking up the candy from the stones, “Wow, there’s so many.”

“Hey, what’s your name?” The Doctor asked the boy, even though he already knew,

“Parson. Who are you?” The boy asked, looking at the Doctor with wide eyes,

“I’m the Doctor. I’m a friend, but I need your help.”

“Whatever with?” Parson asked,

“There are some friends of yours, they’re trapped and we’re trying to save them, but we need your help to get into the room.” Joey said,

“Okay.” Parson nodded, “I’ll help. I’ve been looking for them.” The Doctor led them back inside where the other group was just arriving. They were standing in front of a door that said, _Only children are allowed in the baking room._

“Can you open the door?” The Doctor asked Parson, who nodded, and opened the door. Inside, was what looked like a candy shop, and a scrawny man stood there,

“Who are you?” He asked, “How did you all get in here?”

“You need to go.” The Doctor said to Parson, who nodded, and hurried off,

“There’s children in the oven!” Liza remembered, but the Doctor was already halfway there, he pried the door of the oven open, and two young children looked up at him, “Parson’s on his way home, if you hurry, you can go catch up with him.” They nodded,

“Thank you, sir.”

“Who are they, why were they here?” Tana asked,

“Well, it’s what the gingerbread lady does.” the man, whose name tag read Sampson said, The Doctor nodded,

“How long have you been working for her?”

“She took me in as a boy, I’ve worked here ever since. She even gave me this.” He held up the gem,

“We need that!” Andrea exclaimed,

“We’ll give you anything for it.” Alex said,

“But, the gingerbread woman gave it to me. If I give it away, she’ll, she’ll hurt me.” The Doctor stepped up,

“I won’t let her.” But he just shook his head, stepping back,

“We have this recipe.” Lauren said, “Can we trade?”

“That’s her secret meat pie recipe.” Sampson, stammered, “that’s worth a fortune.”

“We’ll trade you.” The Doctor placed the recipe on the table, and Sampson began to take off his gem that was on a necklace, when the gingerbread lady came out,

“Oh, do we have guests?” She smiled at Sampson, “Well, it’s a good thing I just whipped up a nice batch of hot cocoa. Please, have one.”

“Okay.” Alex said, but Lauren whacked him on the shoulder,

“It’s not safe.” She said,

“It’ll be fine.” Alex said, grabbing a cup and sipping it, “See, it’s fine.” Andrea took a cupcake off the display. The gingerbread woman then looked down at the recipe on the table,

“That looks like my secret recipe for meat pie.” She said, “How did you get it?” The Doctor responded,

“We found it hidden in my friend’s estate up the hill, and thought it ought to be returned to you.” She furrowed her eyebrows, so the Doctor held out the paper to her. She snatched it up,

“But however did it get there?” She asked,

“I don't know.” The Doctor admitted,

“You.” She looked at Sampson who was now shaking, “You betrayed me!”

“He didn’t do anything.” The Doctor said, but she didn’t listen, grabbing Sampson’s hand and holding it on the cutting board,

“Stop!” The Doctor cried out, but it was too late. Her knife dropped down on his fingers. There was an ear curdling scream, and then silence apart from the whimpering of Sampson in the corner.

“What is that?” She asked, noticing the gem in the Doctor’s hands,

“You tried to steal my gem!” She yelled, snatching it up,

“No!” Alex said, mouth full of doughnut,

“Your punishment,” She grinned, still holding her knife, “Is that you will go out and vote and bring me back two pieces of meat. And I will decide which one of you lives, and which one of you will be eaten in my next pie. Go!” The guests returned to the room,

“Whatever’s in there is probably food.” Tyler pointed out, there was a nod of agreement,

“I’ll do it.” The Doctor said, “But you’ve already done a challenge.” Joey said, there was a nod, and the Doctor sat back down. They voted.

“Lauren.” Allison said, shocking the room.

“No.” Alex, her boyfriend, said.

“Who voted for me?” Lauren asked, then Allison pulled out the next card,

“Tyler.”

“Good luck.” The Doctor called to them, the door closed and all went quiet.

It was thirty-four minutes and fifteen seconds later, when both Tyler and Lauren came running back in, both looking exhausted.

“She made us eat a bunch of sweets, so Sampson pushed her in the oven.” Lauren said,

“And we’ve got the gem!” Tyler pulled it out, “And a clue.” He handed the Doctor a scroll,

“Brilliant!” The Doctor grinned, then, with a bang a cloud of smoke appeared, and the Sorceress emerged. “What do you want now?” The Doctor demanded,

“I think you forgot something.” She growled at them, “It’s the most important part. One of you must die.” Suddenly, a harpy came out of the bakery, pulling Sampson along, she grabbed his neck,

“Sampson!” The Doctor ran towards him, but it was too late. The harpy snapped his neck and he fell to the ground. He stepped back towards the group, eyes not wavering from the Sorceress,

“The rules said that one of you must die.” The Sorceress said, “And you have broken that rule, so now I kill two!” Another harpy came out, and they grabbed Lauren and Tyler. The Doctor chased after the two harpies. Lauren and Tyler were screaming as they were pulled through a doorway,

“Lauren! Tyler!” The Doctor called, sprinting to the door, but it shut and locked right as he got there, and a splatter of blood covered the windows. Eight words ran through his mind, _If I had just been a little faster._ He dropped to his knees, banging on the locked door. Alex was by his side, tears running down his cheeks,

“Lauren.” He whispered.

“Run along now, things are just starting.” The Sorceress laughed. They all entered back into the lounge, and the Doctor placed the gem into the iron plate.

“Only four more.”


	6. Endless Winter Night

The Doctor picked up the note and began to read it; “To recover the next gem, outsider, you must save our world from the ice witch’s evil wrath. I have placed a compass in the hearth that can lead you to our realm.”

“What’s a hearth?” Liza asked,

“It’s a fireplace.” Joey said,

“Like that one?” Andrea pointed to the fireplace, and the Doctor ran over, quickly realizing he could remove the bricks. Inside the small hole was a large compass and another note. The Doctor began to read; “The compass will lead you to the portal between worlds, but its source of magic has faded in your realm. My spell book has the incantation that will restore its magic.”

“The spell book’s definitely in there.” Liza said, pointing to a cabinet full of books. They walked over and began to look at each book, but the Doctor could feel the psychic energy just pouring out of one. Grabbing it, he turned to the first page and began to read;

“The spell to restore magic requires two components: a vile of maiden's blood and ashes remains of a hero. One is hidden in the dining room, and the other is in the sick room on the second floor. Recover these, and you’ll be ready to cast the spell.” Once again, they split into groups, Joey, the Doctor, and Liza in one, and Tana, Alex, and Andrea in the other. The Doctor’s group headed to the dining room. Inside was a large dinner table, and the Doctor saw a large painting. On it, was the name; “Captain Wesley Adams. War hero and father. May his ashen remains be encased in clay.” The Doctor read aloud,

“I found it!” Liza cried out, picking up an urn. They returned to the lounge, to see the other group wasn’t there.

“I’m gonna go help them.” The Doctor said, “You two stay down here.” There was a nod of agreement, and the Doctor opened the door to find them looking for the blood.

“Is 117 there?” Alex was asking. The Doctor was glad that, despite losing the love of his life, Alex was still fighting, as the Doctor remembered what had happened to the last person who had given up, the Doctor gave a quick scan of the sheet,

“Do you have 135?”

“Yes!” Tana exclaimed, and the four of them returned downstairs. Andrea began to read the instructions for the spell;

“Make a circle with the ash and place the object inside. Then, speak the words of the spell as the maiden’s blood is dripped around the ash circle.” The Doctor read the words,

“Pella Embella Templa Ella Ey.” The Doctor read, then repeated, “Pella Embella Templa Ella Ey, Pella Embella Templa Ella Ey.” The compass lit up with a green light, then suddenly, a voice out of nowhere said,

“My light will lead you into forgotten realms. It will glow brightest when you move in the proper direction.” Following the light, they walked outside, there was a woman who stood there, frozen. Once they passed the garden, she moved, relaxing her body, and turned to them,

“The heroes of our prophecy have arrived.” She said, “Our world has been cursed, and we need your help.”

“We are at your service.” The Doctor said, “What can we do?”

“The once lowly ice witch has obtained a gem, giving her great power.”

“That’s the gem we need. We need that.” Liza said,

“To defeat her, you will need to find the unquenchable fire, which lies on The Path of Betrayal. To get to the path, you will need to find the talisman. Two evil harpies got the talisman. They will tear you to pieces unless you have a great warrior by your side. Torhil the Undying was such a warrior.”

“I think I can guess what happened.” The Doctor said quietly to Joey, “This is why you never have a name with the title, ‘undying’ or ‘undefeated.’”

“The last spell in my book has the power to reverse the witch’s curse and free him.” The Doctor turned to the last spell in the book and began to read,

“To dispel the curse you will need tears from a fairy and the Moss King’s scepter. Both lie here, hidden in the woods.”

“I found the scepter!” Alex called after a minute or two of searching,

“Brilliant Alex!” The Doctor said, picking up something, “I found a flute and a note.” He began to read; “Play the proper note to summon a Fairy. If you seek her tears, you must get her to laugh until she cries.” The Doctor grabbed the flute, knowing how to play, he blew the notes and it made a beautiful high pitched call. A beautiful Fairy came running out of the trees,

“You called?” She said,

“Yes, we need your tears.” Liza said, but the Doctor held out a hand to stop them from talking,

“E ka hoaaloha, e ku’u hoaaloha, e kala mai iā mākou, akā mākou makemake i kahi hue o kou waimaka.” The Doctor said, requesting the tears in the fairy’s language,

“No ke aha mai? No ke aha i makemake ai’oe e ho’ohana i kēia mau mea? Ke kilokilo ino?” The fairy responded, asking the intention of the use of the tears,

“Makemake mākou e uhai i ka hō’ino i kau’ia ma luna o ke kanaka maika’i.” The Doctor answered, explaining that he was simply trying to break a curse,

“Maika’i, akā he pono ia’u e’aka’aka.” She agreed, but only if the Doctor could make her laugh, so the Doctor told a joke, and she began to laugh, then collected her tears in a vial, and handed them to the Doctor,

“Ke haawi aku nei wau i keia ia oe. Mahalo.” She said, thanking the Doctor,

“Mahalo.” The Doctor thanked her back, and turned back to the group, “I got the tears.”

“How did you know her language?” Alex asked,

“I know every language.” The Doctor opened the spell book again, “Spell to reverse the ice curse: place the scepter at the base of the subject and sprinkle the fairy tears on their eyes. Then, move twenty paces from the subject before reading the words of the spell.” Andrea placed the scepter down, and Liza sprinkled the tears in is eyes as the Doctor and Joey counted the twenty paces. Once finished, the Doctor began to read; “Lova Tomara Entepla. Yalla Ana Barafala Entempla.” Smoke surrounded the ice statue of the warrior, and suddenly, there was a battle cry, and a large man came bursting out of the smoke.

“You freed me from that frozen tomb. I am in your debt.”

“We need to defeat the ice witch.” The Doctor said,

“I will help you. Follow me.” They followed him out into the yard, “This is where the harpies lie. Should they attack, mind their claws. They carry a poison that can kill a northern mammoth. Look.” He pointed to the two harpies, sitting together on a rock. They noticed them, and ran at the group, “Μείνουν πίσω!” The Doctor shouted at them. They backed off.

“That was Greek.” Liza said, “Do they speak Greek?”

“Yep.” The Doctor said, popping the ‘p’, they actually come from Earth, just mostly reside in Europe, hidden away.”

“Χρειαζόμαστε τον φυλακτό.” The Doctor said, asking for the talisman,

“έχετε κάποια ιδέα για την τιμή που έπρεπε να πληρώσουμε για να την αποκτήσουμε;” The blue harpy responded, explain the price paid to obtain the talisman,

“We will trade you whatever you want.” The Doctor said in English so the other guests could understand it, they conferred with each other for a minute, then turned back to the guests,

“Here are the terms and we will accept no others. Four of you will be placed on the edge of the fountain as witnesses; two of you will face us in a game of stones.”

“That’s like checkers.” The Doctor explained to the other guests,

“If one of you loses, all four outsiders will be slain. If both of you can win, the talisman is yours. Decide who plays!”

“I’ll play.” The Doctor said, there was a nod,

“I’ll do it too.” Joey said, following the Doctor’s lead. The two of them approached the harpies as the other four guests stood on the edge of the fountain.

“The first player to stack three stones is the victor.” The blue harpy said, “The outsiders go first.” The Doctor made his move. Then, the harpy went.

In two minutes, the Doctor had stacked all three stacks, despite the harpy’s cheating tendency to make two moves. He turned to Alex, “You got this?” he asked,

“I have a stack, but she has two of mine.” The Doctor began to verbally guide him, until the Doctor’s harpy hissed at him to stop.  
“But you keep cheating. If you cheat, so can we.”

“We’re not cheating.” The red harpy hissed angrily, as Alex got his second stack,

“You keep jumping two.”

“No I don’t. I move one space.”

“And I’m not guiding. Just cheering him on.” The Doctor grinned, but Torhil stepped up,

“You think me blind?”

“There’s no reason to resort to violence.” The Doctor said, but Torhil was already on top of the harpy. They fought, and as Torhil struck the last harpy down, he dropped to the ground,

“Her claws, the poison, she got me.”

“The Doctor told you not to.” Joey said,

“I don’t give a damn what a damn doctor says to me. They know nothing of battle.” Torhil laughed, The Doctor gave a sad smile and closed Torhil’s eyes,

“Just go to sleep Torhil, doctor’s orders. When you wake up, everything will be fine.” Within a minute, Torhil’s breathing stopped, and he died. The Doctor stood up and walked over, picking up the talisman from the center of the crimson pool, the woman from before returned. “You truly are the heroes of the prophecy. Follow me to the path. You will need the talisman to get past its guardian.” They returned to the back of the house, and saw the guardian, he spoke,

“If you seek the unquenchable fire, two must be chosen to walk the Path of Betrayal.” They once again returned to the lounge, knowing this was another death. “If we have to send away two people, I feel like it should be two people that haven’t proven themselves yet.” Alex said,

“Joey and Andrea?” Liza suggested,

“I’ll take Joey’s place.” The Doctor said immediately,

“No, you’ve proven yourself.” Liza said, “They haven’t.”

“Don’t worry,” Joey winked at the Doctor, “I’ll see you on the other side.” And with that, he and Andrea walked outside.

They waited outside, where the Doctor had watched Joey walk through the gate, past the guardian. Suddenly, the guardian looked up at them, he began walking towards Tana, and the Doctor realized what The Path of Betrayal was. It was like the murder journal, and they chose Tana. She screamed and fell to the ground. There was a yelling from inside the forest, and a minute later, Joey and Andrea just came running back,

“We had to betray one of you guys.” He said, “I didn’t want to.” The Doctor grabbed his hand, and embraced him.

“I’m just glad you’re alright.”

“Did you face the ice queen?” Liza asked,

“Yes, we killed the ice queen.” Andrea said, “But there was no gem.” The woman suddenly walked out of the forest for them and said,

“I’m sorry for your loss, but you have saved our entire land, and for that, I am forever in your debt.” She held a crystal out to them, “This contains a piece of my magic. May it serve you well.”

“It is time to leave here, before the Sorceress finds her way here again.” They nodded, and the remaining five returned inside.


	7. Automation Love Story

Suddenly, there was an alarm that blared without warning. A voice said, “The home-defense system has been enabled. The estate is secure.” A door behind them opened, so the Doctor was the first one to walk in. Inside was a machine with a timer on it that said ten minutes, but wasn’t counting down. On the machine, there was a lock. There was also a part that was missing a gear. The guests began to look around the room for the missing gear.

“I found it!” Liza jumped up, handing the Doctor the gear. The Doctor placed it into its spot, and rotated it twice like the clue said to. Then, a drawer opened, and Andrea began to read.

“The fuel cell must be secured correctly, or the machine will not run. Once in place, close the panel and pull the lever on the right.”

“The crystal must be the fuel cell.” The Doctor said, pulling it out, placing it in the slot, and pulling the lever.

Suddenly, the machine, that was clearly a projector, projected a video up on the wall. It showed an robotic woman. A man placed his head next to her, looking directly into the camera said, “Subject, automation bride, attempt 685. The generator powering her heart broke under the constant strain. The friction was just too much. I need a human heart to do this. My conscience is stolen.” Then, there was another, feminine, voice,

“I, uh, have a proposal.”

“I’m recording.” The man snapped at her, “Have you no manners?”

“Sorry, I just–” Then, the number 7299 flashed across the screen and it went blank. The Doctor ran to the machine and slipped in the code. It clicked open and inside were the blueprints for the automation bride. The alarm began to blare again,

“Critical breach of security. Target number 331 has been compromised.” The alarm said, “The doors have been locked and the machine will self-destruct in ten minutes unless the override protocol is engaged.” Everyone began to panic,

“Everyone look for parts.” The Doctor said, and they began to tear the room apart, looking for something that could help.

“I found something!” Alex cried out, and handed it to the Doctor,

“Brillant!” The Doctor cried out, sliding it into the place it was shown being in on the video. Then, the clock stopped,

“Override protocol engaged.” The alarm said, and they breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, a man with a large machine on his back and a gem burst through the door,

“You destroyed my life’s work!” He yelled,

“We didn’t do anything!” Joey cried out, he screamed and began shooting some sort of smoke into the air, then, through another door, a young girl, probably in her twenties, ran through and shot him with a blue light. He froze in his spot, and the girl said,

“He’s only going to be like that for a couple of minutes. We gotta get out of here.” Without question, they followed the girl. Once they were safely in the other room, the questions began,

“What just happened?” Joey asked,

“Who are you?” Andrea said,

“What the hell was that?” Alex exclaimed,

“I’m jetpack girl,” Jetpack girl gestured to her jetpack on her back, “Nice to meet you.”  
“Who was that?” The Doctor asked,

“That was Cedric. That’s my old boss. He built this automation bride to love him forever, but it only awoke long enough to, like, crush his soul. But he thinks someone sabotaged her, and right now he thinks y’all did it.” The Doctor nodded,

“I could fix it.” Jetpack girl raised an eyebrow,

“Alright, let’s see if you can carry through.” She smiled, then said, “I just want him to see that I can make something that works.”

“If we do this, are we gonna get the gem?” Liza asked,

“Um, I think we can arrange that. Follow me to the lab.” They began to walk when Jetpack girl added, “And watch yourself, because he enabled the home-defense system.” Alex was the first one to step through the doorway, and the moment he did, the alarm went back on.

“Um, you just stepped on a landmine.” She said to Alex, “It’s gonna be fine. Stay put, stay put or it’ll blow your leg off.” She picked up the timer off the counter, they had five minutes. “Oh! That’s less time than I thought you had.” She said nervously,

“What do we do to deactivate it?” The Doctor asked,

“Targets, targets, gun!” She pointed to the targets around the room, and handed each of them a gun. As much as the Doctor hated guns, this wasn’t shooting at anyone, and he’d already pretty much given up everything he stood for, so in one straight, skilled, horizontal line, he shot every target in the room. Everyone in the room, including Jetpack girl gaped at him.

“Intruder security measure bypassed.” The alarm said, then shut off.

“Allons-y!” The Doctor cried, and they ran into the lab.

The lab was dirty and full of broken bits of machines and mechanical body parts. They approached the bride, and the Doctor took a glance at the blueprints, then started to repair her, just as he heard Andrea say, “It says to gather the raw parts and place them in the elevator at the end of the Red Hall. If they’re correct, the master machine upstairs will assemble them so they can be placed on the automaton.”

“I don’t need that.” The Doctor said, “I’ve got everything I need here.” Everyone could tell that the Doctor wasn’t sticking to the blueprints, but no one really argued.

About seven minutes and fifty-six seconds in, Cedric came running in, “What are you doing?” He screamed,

“Fixing your robot!” The Doctor called back,

“You’ll destroy her!” He cried,

“I’m an alien from the most highly praised engineers in the universe, I think I can handle your robot.” He said. Cedric stared at him, then said,

“You better not be a lier.”

It took thirty-six minutes and twelve seconds, but the Doctor finally finished. And to everyone’s astonishment, she stood up, walking directly towards Cedric,

“Ced?” She said, tears began to leak down Cedric’s face,

“Hey.” He said, seemingly flustered, she grabbed his hands, and they began to dance. The Doctor smiled,

“Take care of her.” He looked back,

“How can I ever repay this debt to you?” The Doctor smiled,

“Could we have that gem?” Cedric handed the gem to the Doctor,

“Certainly.” They walked out.

“You just saved one of our lives.” Alex said,

“I’m not sure about that.” As they returned to the lounge and placed the gem in, there was a bang and the Sorceress appeared again.

“Oh, Time Lord, you do make me laugh.” She grinned, “You throw away all of your morals just for a night with me. I mean, using guns? Introducing future technology? You're being such a bad boy. Aren’t I lucky?” The Doctor glared at her, “For your entertainment, only one will be killed tonight, but the next time you try to cheat death, two will be taken.” And with that a bolt of green light shot across the room at Andrea, who crumpled to the ground,

“Why are you doing this?” the Doctor demanded, kneeling over Andrea’s dead body,

“Oh, it’s simple really.” She grinned, then said one word that disgusted the Time Lord, “Fun.”


	8. Full Moon Slaughter

The Sorceress disappeared. The Doctor suddenly looked up, “It’s midnight. A box beside them jumped open, Liza went to read the note it contained; “It’s midnight in the garden of evil and it’s time we escalated the stakes. My lieutenants are no longer waiting to be found. They’re coming for you. The Sorceress.” Suddenly, there was a banging on the glass door and a man shouting,

“Help! Help me! Help me please!” Despite the yelling of the other guests, the Doctor ran to the door and opened it, shutting it behind him tightly as the man fell into the room. He then jumped up, “You have to, you have to help me!” He gasped, “Please, my son is going to die if I don’t do something.”

“Where is he and how can we help?” The Doctor asked immediately,

“We were attacked by a werewolf on the side of the road.”

“Why were you there?” The Doctor asked, “Look, I took something from him, a gem the size of my fist. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.”

“Can we see it?” Alex asked, and the man held out the next gem,

“If you help me, I’ll give it to yeh.” The Doctor nodded,

“What do we need to do?”

“The lycanthrope infection hasn’t settled in my son’s blood yet, and the only way to purge it is with a mixture of quicksilver and wolfsbane. I hear tell that there’s a map hidden down by the fountain. Please, we don’t have much time.” The Doctor was already running out to the fountain, the others grabbing lanterns from Allison. The Doctor didn’t need one. By the time everyone had made it over to the fountain, he had found the chest.

“We need three keys!” The Doctor called, and everyone began to look.

Joey was the first to find a key, pulling it out of the fountain. Liza was next pulling it out of a flowerpot. Alex found the third one, and the Doctor unlocked the chest. Inside was a map that led to a stagecoach that would lead to the wolfsbane. Suddenly, from behind them, a Lupine Wavelength Haemovariform, or werewolf, jumped out at them, “Run!” The Doctor called and they began to follow the map to the stagecoach. At the bottom of the hill, they found it.

“The carriage!” Joey cried out, and the four of them ran to it. Inside the carriage, was a chest.

“We need another key.” The Doctor said, reading the clue, “Only the horses can see the key.”

“There are no horses are out here.” Alex said,

“But what position would they be in?” Joey asked, standing where the horses would be standing had they been there,

“Or,” The Doctor said, grabbing the blinders off the carriage, “They’re here!” Sure enough, inside the blinders rested the key. Liza unlocked the chest, and inside was the wolfsbane, and a note. Liza read;

“We stashed a safe in the trees along this road to hold the quicksilver we took from the southern bank.” They began to walk forwards, when Joey cried out,

“Oh! Right here!” And pulled a lockbox out of the trees. “We need two keys.” Alex began to read the clue,

I’ve never seen anything like quicksilver before. To keep my men from stealing it, I split the combination into three parts, hid one here, another in the greenhouse under the moon, and the last one is in the stone path where you need to keep an eye out for traps.”

“Alright, Joey and I will head to the stone path, and you two head for the greenhouse, alright?” There was a nod, “Meet back here when you’re done.”

The Doctor and Joey headed to the stone path. They found the first trap, it was a skinned, bloody rabbit. Joey and the Doctor knew what had to be done, so Joey ripped open the rabbit, and pulled out a clue. He read aloud; “Butch always liked–” But then, there was a low growl,

“Hide.” The Doctor grabbed Joey’s hand and the two of them climbed up a tree. The werewolf came running by sniffing. Then, he left. Joey continued reading, “to keep a certain number of bullets on him, thought it made him lucky.”

They continued down the path until they found the next trap. This time, it was a basket full of bread and there was a belt full of silver bullets. The Doctor counted each bullet, “Eleven.” He said, Joey nodded, and with their number they made their way back to the box.

“We have twenty-seven under the moon.” Liza said, when they returned,

“We have eleven bullets.” Joey said,

“And there are thirteen scratch marks on the box.” Alex observed. The Doctor slipped in the codes, and the box clicked open. Inside was the quicksilver, so the Doctor grabbed it and stood up,

“Where’s your son?” He asked the man,

“Follow me.” And the four guests did.

When they got there, his son was in rough shape, and the Doctor dropped down next to him, and there was a large gash on his left arm. The man ran off to get some water, and the Doctor picked up the bason and began to mix them together. The Doctor pulled off some of Liza’s shirt sleeve, “What was that for?” She asked, but the Doctor just placed the leather in the boy’s mouth.

“Bite down on this.” He instructed. The boy held out his arm, and as the Doctor applied the ointment, he made muffled screams.

“Y’all might want to run.” The boy said,

“Why?” Joey asked,

“I don’t think my dad shared his new condition with you.” The Doctor nodded,

“Then we have to get you out of here.”

“No, I’ll only slow you down.” The Doctor picked the boy up, and began to run back towards the house. But a large growling figure was blocking their path.

“Run!” The Doctor called, and they began to run in the other direction. Suddenly, they were surrounded by werewolves.

“A life for a gem.” Allison said, “There will be a vote.”

“There will be no vote.” One of the werewolves growled, “All of you will run the gauntlet and I will sit here in the fountain. The last straggler will be devoured.”

“And what about your son?” The Doctor asked,

“He will stay here.”

“Will he be safe?” There was a pause,

“Yes.” The Doctor nodded, and carefully placed the boy down.

The gauntlet essentially was a four-part obstacle course. The werewolf sent out a howl, and the four of them ran for the course. The first part was the barbed wire crawl. The Doctor made a running jump, and slid through about a quarter of the way. Moving quickly he hurried forwards, his skinny body being a serious advantage. Once he was out, he ran to the wall climb. Having climbed buildings and cliffs, and just about every surface imaginable, climbing a slanted vine wall, wasn’t at all difficult. Next was to carry a large, heavy bag up a staircase. At this point, everyone else was just getting out of the barbed wire, and so the Doctor had a large lead. Being a Time Lord, the Doctor was easily able to carry heavy loads, and so this didn’t seem like much. The last task was the bottle smash, and with the Doctor’s insane accuracy and coordination, it only took a single stone, and the Doctor had smashed the bottle. He ran and easily crossed the finish line. The next person to cross the finish line was Alex, Joey right on his heels, and on Joey’s heels, there’s Liza. “We had a deal.” Allison said, “a life for the gem.”

“No deal.” The werewolf growled, and suddenly, Allison had tossed the gem she had taken from their lair to the Doctor, and was on top of the werewolf,

“Run!” She yelled, and the Doctor felt Joey’s arm pulling him inside. He knew Allison wouldn’t make it out. They were walking back to the lounge, going through the Red Hall, but then, the elevator door opened and a large creature that even the Doctor had never seen before emerged.

“Run!”


	9. The Dark Dimension

“Species?” Joey called to the Doctor,

“Never seen it before in my life.” The Doctor said, running out. At the top of the balcony, they noticed a demonic statue. Underneath were the words Alex read aloud; “Speak to us forgotten one, and steal the light from our eyes that we might see.” The Doctor looked closely at the statue,

“Try to replicate it.” He said, pointing to where there were four figures holding up their hands in surrender, and they all repeated the clue together,

“Speak to us forgotten one, and steal the light from our eyes that we might see.” Suddenly, the statue glowed teal and a book fell out. On the book, were eyes. The Doctor began to read;

“The Sorceress has used the final gem to summon a Devourer to aid in her end game. To retrieve the gem, you must venture into the Dark Dimension where it is being kept. Only the twin idols of the cursed god allow passage. To recover the first one, you must make a phone call to hell and share secret words with its Gatekeeper.

“What? Call hell?” Joey said, “I don’t know about you, but I’ve never talked to the devil before.” The Doctor shrugged,

“Remind me to tell you that story later.”

“What?” Joey stared at him, and the Doctor began to run, following the map. Around the corner, was a telephone box. Just a normal, telephone box. They opened it up, there was a plaque that said, _Please have your telephone billet number ready to operate the telephone._

“There’s a chest over there.” Alex pointed out, The Doctor pulled a different small box out of the telephone box. Inside was a bottle of sulfur pellets, a note, and a map of the lounge showing where they should place objects for a séance. The Doctor began to read the note,

“The gatekeeper of hell hides his secret words among the living. The ritual to reveal their location must be performed in the lounge by three participants who must first drink the blood of a demon. A drop of sulfur in the correct liquor bottle will reveal the one containing demon’s blood.” The Doctor looked up at his friends, “I have an idea.” He paused, then said,  
“I’m going to get the Devourer to chase me. You go inside and once you get the secret words, just call me back.”

“This is a bad idea.” Joey said, but the Doctor just responded,

“I can’t see you coming up with any better.” The Doctor began to walk around the house, the Devourer following him from the inside, but not exiting. “There’s some kind of force field.” The Doctor said, “I’ll just have him chase me around upstairs.” The Doctor ran inside, the Devourer on his tail, and sprinted up the staircase. The Doctor ran from the Devourer, then realized he could lock him in the bedroom. He had been chased in there, so he vaulted over the desk and sprinted out of the room, locking the door behind him and returning to the others. He helped them finish the séance, and they grabbed a crystal from a now-open chest that said _Holy Kingdom._ They returned to the telephone box, unsure of what to do next, when Liza found another latch. It was a card that said _File In Library Desk_. They ran to the desk, and quickly found that there were thousands of papers in the desk.

“I found a key!” Alex exclaimed,

“There’s a lock down here.” Liza said, grabbing the key and unlocking another drawer in the desk.

“I found something!” Joey cried out after sifting through the new drawer. It was a telephone billet with the numbers 835219. They hurried out to the telephone box, and the Doctor picked up the phone. A female voice said,

“Telephone billet number please.”

“8-3-5-2-1-9.” The Doctor recited,

“Connecting you now.” The woman said, and suddenly, there was a deep and ominous voice,

“What do you seek?”

“The twin idol of the cursed god.” The Doctor responded,

“Such a prize cannot be given freely. What are the words you will give in exchange?”

“Sanctum Regnum.” The Doctor said,

“Mortal, what you have spoken will haunt you forever. The Dark Dimensions drives all who enter mad.”

“Well, I’m not your typical mortal.” The Doctor said, and hung up. A box outside opened up,

“What is Sanctum Regnum?” Liza asked,

“It’s the Holy Kingdom.” The Doctor said, “And I assume it’s located in the Dark Dimension.” Inside the box lay an idol and a note that said, _My twin lies in watery darkness._  
“The pool.” Alex said, “We need to go to the pool.”

When they got to the pool, there was a rope attached to a box that was at the bottom. The Doctor hoisted it up and read the note on it, “To uncage the second twin, one must reach  into the mouth of a demon and tear out its tongue.”  
“That must be the demon.” Joey pointed to a gargoyle who had his tongue sticking out. Liza walked over to it, and grabbed it. A key slid out of a drawer the opened up underneath it, and the Doctor grabbed the key and unlocked the chest. Inside, was the other idol and a note. Alex began to read;  
“Two must be selected by the vote of the group to enter the Dark Dimension. Those chosen must claim a partner to help them.

“Hey!” A female voice called from across the pool, and they saw Jetpack girl step out of the house, “Follow me!” They followed Jetpack girl inside, “You saw that Devourer thing, right?”

“Yes.” They all said in unison,

“Well, I’m pretty sure it’s scared of those idol things.” They nodded, and placed the idols on the table. “What does your note say?” The Doctor reread the note, and Jetpack girl nodded.

“Let’s vote.” Alex said, and they sat down to discuss.

“I think you should go.” Liza said to the Doctor, “You did say you’ve spoken with the devil before.” There was a nod,

“I agree, I’ll volunteer. Who else is going?”

“Liza should go.” Alex said,

“Let’s just vote.” The Doctor said. Joey, Alex, and Liza voted. Jetpack girl picked up the card,

“Liza.”

“I choose Joey.” The Doctor said,

“I’ll take Liza.” Alex agreed,

They entered the room where the portal lay. There was a book, the Doctor read the note; “This is a one-way entrance to the Dark Dimension. The first team to recover the gem will be protected from its guardian. The losing guest and their partner, will be sacrificed so the others might return. The gem of power is hidden in the most unlikely place. Leave no corpse unturned or pool of filth untouched. I have a secret on the last page to give you upon your return.” They nodded, placed the idols in their placeholders, and entered the portal. The moment they got to the portal, they began to dig through the rubble. After a bit of digging the Doctor remembered the passage, _Leave no corpse unturned._ He whispered it to Joey, and they ran back to the bodies. Suddenly, a glint caught the Doctor’s eye. He grabbed the gem off the ground. “Found it.” The Doctor and Joey embraced. Suddenly, the guardian started to come for Liza and Alex

“No, no, no, no!” Liza cried, trying to run away, but he easily caught up with her and impaled her. Then, he came for Alex, but Alex didn’t run. He stood there and the Doctor heard him whisper,

“I’m coming Lauren.” And he too was impaled. Behind them, the portal opened up, and the Doctor and Joey returned. Joey grabbed the book and read on the last page;

“Sometimes wizards lie to get what they want and they hide things in plain sight.” The Doctor locked eyes with Joey,

“Wait, the woman, from the forest, when the ice witch didn’t give us the gem, she’s a wizard, isn’t she?” Joey walked to the mantle and picked up the compass, opening it. Inside rested the last crystal. The Doctor pressed it into the iron plate. There was a magenta light, and the plate split in half. Inside was a crown. The Crown of Oblivion.


	10. The Sorceress

“It looks like this is the same shape as the crystals.” Joey pointed out on the crown, the Doctor nodded and placed the gems in the crown. They looked at it, one slot was rectangular. Something was missing. Suddenly, a chest behind them opened, and the Doctor stepped over to it, he began to read;

“To complete the Crow, the center stone must be recovered. Two from the future must stand as one on a high place in the foyer. Their leader must place the Crown upon their head and the stone will appear.” The last two walked up to the top of the foyer. Joey grabbed his hand, and the Doctor placed the crown on his head. A green light shone from an angel statue and began to lower to the ground, just as the Sorceress walked in. She grinned at it, taking it from the air,

“All this time, it’s been right here.” The Doctor felt a gun on the back of his neck,

“Take it off.” The man demanded, Joey squeezed the Doctor’s hand as he handed it to the man, well aware of the alternative. Unlike most people, they weren’t afraid to shoot. The man handed the crown to the Sorceress, she smiled,

“I have waited more than a century to wear this Crown. It was stolen from me by the Society Against Evil and locked away only to be restored by souls from the future. That is why I brought you all here. And in gratitude for such a sacrifice, there is one more game to play. It’s my favorite part. In the end, you all die!” She cackled, and the room filled with werewolves and vampires and every other creature they had faced. “The sun is about to rise,” the Sorceress announced, “And my spell will be complete.” Suddenly, the creatures were all running at the Doctor and Joey, who sprinted up more stairs and ran into a room, locking the door behind them.

“What do we do?” Joey asked, the Doctor looked at the dollhouse, and inside of it, there’s a girl trapped in a glass box,

“I imagine that has something to do with this.” Next to the doll, was a small book, that Joey began to read;

“My name is Riley, and I am the child the Sorceress once was, the child that was hurt and sealed away so she might become a monster. I am her link to the cursed gods magic she wields. If you free me from my prison, the Sorceress will be stripped of her power. Please save me. I just want to go outside and play like all the other girls.” Joey looked at the Doctor, “So we can still defeat her?” The Doctor grinned,

“Yes we can.” The Doctor noticed two other girl dolls outside of the dollhouse, so he placed Riley with them. Suddenly, a secret door opened. They walked through to find a latter that went out the window and a book. The Doctor opened the book and began to read;

“My prison in the tree house will open when the three leviathan seals are broken. They are painted in crimson light around the estate. The first one is hidden behind the bricks. Be careful, the lieutenants are after you. If you get caught and are not rescued within five minutes, you will be killed.” Joey and the Doctor climbed down the latter onto the ground. They began to look for the symbol, running from lieutenants of every nature. Suddenly, they turned a corner, and found the symbol. There was also a note, and a gun. Joey picked up the gun, and the Doctor read the note;

“The blood of the forsaken must be spread across the seal to break it.”

“Vampires have blood of the forsaken.” Joey said, turning around only to find a vampire running at them, and he fired the gun. The vampire dropped to the ground, Joey ran over, got the blood and a clue, then ran back. He smeared the blood on the seal, and it disappeared. The Doctor looked at Joey,

“Two more to go.” Joey started to read the clue,

“The second seal can only be discussed over dinner.”

“Inside, inside.” The Doctor and Joey ran inside, only to meet the Devourer. “I’ll be the distraction!” The Doctor ran in the opposite direction, the Devourer on his tail. Once the Doctor had locked him in another room, and ran back downstairs to where Joey was opening another note, having broken another seal. He read;

“The final seal lies on the water.”

“That could be the pool or the pond.” The Doctor said, “Let’s check the pond first. Last time we got a vague clue about water it was a bird bath.”

When they got to the pond, there was a clue. The Doctor read; “I’m afraid the seal can only be broken by blowing it up. The trick is to take down the lieutenants at the same time. Place the dynamite in the palm, and prep for detonation.” The Doctor and Joey started to scream for lieutenants, and six of them came, getting close to them, but then, the dynamite exploded and the third seal was broken. Looking up, they spotted the treehouse, and made their way to it. Inside, there was a girl in a glass box. “Hello.” The Doctor grinned at the girl as he opened her confinement,

“You broke the seals.” She said, and hugged the Doctor tightly. “The Sorceress, I’m the source of her power. Now that I’m out, she’ll be weak.”

“Okay, how do we defeat her?” Joey asked,

“She will know the pain that I have felt all these years.”

“Wait!” The Doctor called out as the girl ran out of the tree house. They chased her up the balcony, where a lieutenant was waiting, but then, there was a gunshot, and the lieutenant fell to the ground, and Jetpack girl was standing there.

“Oh, am I happy to see you.” the Doctor grinned at Jetpack girl, then chased the girl into the foyer. The Sorceress was there, lying on the stairs, as was the crown. Joey reached over the Sorceress to grab the crown, when she jumped up at him, holding a knife and stabbing him in the heart.

“Joey!” The Doctor screamed, running to his side, as the girl slit the Sorceress’ throat with her own knife. “Joey.” He whispered, He placed the crown on his head and closed his eyes, feeling the power of the crown. A golden light began to emanate from his hands and he placed them on Joey’s unbeating chest. The golden light surrounded Joey’s body, and with a gasp, he awoke, leaving the Doctor empty of energy. He collapsed onto Joey, whose hands were now clutching his. “Doctor?” He whispered, the Doctor didn’t respond verbally, but squeezed Joey’s hand. Joey got up, looking down at his now healed chest through the bloody stains in his shirt. “What did you just do?” He asked, picking up the Doctor, holding him across his chest,

“Do you remember when I told you about regeneration?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, there’s a way for a Time Lord to give up their regeneration energy. And you, you died and, and it was the only thing I could do.” Joey stared at him,

“You used your last regeneration on me?” The Doctor nodded, and Joey grabbed him and held him in his arms. “That was a really stupid thing to do.” The Doctor gave Joey a loving smile,

“But worth it."


End file.
